Covered, compounding — a bank payout with a wide cushion. A 2.22% yield on a 26.28% trailing payout is covered with room to spare: $0.67 a quarter, raised in August 2026 from $0.60 and declared again Oct. 19, 2026, for payment Nov. 25, 2026. Q3 2026 earnings of $2.85 a share beat the $2.66 consensus, and the dividend takes only about a quarter of trailing earnings — the cushion, not the yield, is the point of this card.
Key risk: Credit-cycle risk — as a global bank, Citigroup’s earnings depend on credit quality, rates and capital-markets activity, any of which can compress the cushion in a downturn.
Changes if: Trailing payout pushes well past 26.28%, or credit costs rise enough to cut earnings for two consecutive quarters. The cushion is wide; credit quality is the tripwire.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 26.28% trailing — the $2.68 indicated dividend leaves about three-quarters of earnings retained.
- ✓Yield check: 2.22% indicated — $0.67/qtr × 4 at the $120.62 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real, earned yield for a single bank, not a special or a return of capital.
- ✓Dividend growth check: 3 years of growth on a trailing basis; the latest raise lifted the quarterly dividend from $0.60 to $0.67, first paid Aug. 28, 2026.
What this grade doesn't say: It screens the dividend only — covered, real, compounding. It says nothing about valuation or price: a well-covered payer can still be overpriced, and its price can still fall.